McGill-Toolen teammates lead Alabama to a 21-16 win at Alabama-Mississippi Classic

Jason Smith of McGill-Toolen High School carries the ball during the Alabama vs. Mississippi All Star football game at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012. (Julie Bennett / al.com)

Alabama defenders Derek King (left) of Central-Phenix City and Clay-Chalkville's Brandon Fuller (right) team up to stop a Mississippi ballcarrier with Carver-Montgomery's Shaun Rupert also in on the play. Alabama won 21-16 to earn its fifth straight win in the Alabama-Mississippi Classic at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery. (Julie Bennett / jbennett@al.com)

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- As far as Alabama-Mississippi Classic all-state football games go, the 26th edition stood out on two distinct levels.

Penalty flags dominated the contest. That's a result of so many players and systems and only four real days of practice to prepare. The Alabama and Mississippi teams were flagged 29 times for a combined 242 yards on Saturday afternoon at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery.

Alabama's 21-16 win was its fifth straight victory in the border battle between the states. It was staked to an early 9-0 lead on the strength of McGill-Toolen kicker Thomas Hamlin's big leg.

The kicker with no offers stood out amid a field of future Saturday players by booting field goals of 30, 35 and a career-best 51 yards for a 9-0 lead at the half. Those three field goals tied an All-Star Classic record.

"I've never dreamed of performing this well in this game on this big of a stage," Hamlin said. "That's unheard of for a kickier sitting in the back. I'm not in any way comparable to any of these other great players on this sideline but I'm sure glad they asked me to come play in this game. I'm so thankful and I'm never going to regret making this trip."

He even made a touchdown-saving tackle at midfield and moved the chains for an Alabama first down as he was dropped to the ground on a roughing-the-punter penalty.

But as he cooled off in the second half his classmate Jason Smith just kept going. The Auburn verbal finished with six catches for 137 yards to earn MVP honors.

"Thomas can have the MVP award if he wants it," Smith said. "He deserves it. Thomas is a great guy and I am just glad to be his teammate."

Smith showed a smooth transition from playing quaterback all season to the receiver spot against Mississippi's best on Saturday. He helped secure the victory with four of those catches in the second half for 72 yards.

His 137 receiving yards tied the all-time Classic record set in 1989 by Chalos Bonner of Greenwood for Mississippi. Smith had two impressive one-handed catches to keep the chains moving for Alabama.

Spain Park's Nick Mullens completed 8 of his 12 passes for 156 yards and no interceptions. Foley's Cedrix Reed led all rushers with his nine carries for 57 yards. His 30-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave Alabama a 15-0 lead.

But the boys from the Magnolia State rallied in the fourth quarter. Parker Adamson hit Kameron Myers from a 47-yard strike with Alabama up 21-0. Mississippi added a safety and then Wes Windham hit Derrick Jones for a 41-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 21-16 with 4:41 left to play.

Myers led Mississippi with his five catches for 82 yards.

Missisippi was led by a dominant peformance in the trenches by 6-foot-7 defensive end Chris Jones. The 265-pound Mississippi State verbal led all tacklers with his eight stops and three tackles for losses. He had the only sack of the contest and was named game MVP for Mississippi.

"Those guys are good," Jones said. "The speed rush was working for me today, but it was tough out there. Those are the 40 best players in Alabama and they are good for a reason. Those guys just outplayed us today."

Northview's Marquez White led Alabama with his six tackles. Dothan's Kamryn Melton also added up the big plays in a stat line that begins with four tackles and an interception. He recovered a fumble and forced another fumble in the winning effort.

Spanish Fort corneback Jonathan Cook came up with a big stop in the first half. The new Alabama verbal picked off a Mississippi pass in the end zone and returned it 57 yards to set up Hamlin's second field goal and a 6-0 lead.

Auburn's Reuben Foster finished with four tackles, but induced the biggest reaction from the crowd with his bone-jarring hits and overall physical play.

"A lot of these guys come in with all the hype and all the talk," said Alabama coach Chris Yeager said, who's the coach at Mountain Brook. "That kid is one of those rare ones to back up every bit of the hype. There's one guy who really deserves all the attention he's getting for being a football player."

Austin running back Joshua Walker gave Alabama a 21-0 lead with his 9-yard touchdown run with 10:54 left in the fourth quarter. Carver-Montgomery's standout quarterback Jeremy Johnson didn't have his best game.

The Auburn verbal finished 4 of 10 for 75 yards and threw one interception.

Alabama has now won 13 of the last 15 meetings between the border states in the All-Star Classic rivalry.

Jeff Sentell covers Birmingham high school sports for The Alabama Media Group and The Birmingham News. Write to him at jsentell@al.com.